INFORMATION FOR NEW CANDIDATES

INTRODUCTION TO
EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN MISSION (ECM)

 
European Christian Mission International (ECMI) is a multinational, multi-denominational mission organisation primarily focused on church planting ministries across Europe.

We currently have +300 missionaries working in 25 countries from Portugal to the Ukraine and Malta to Sweden. Our eight Mobilisation Teams are spread across the world. We also have over 200 partners working with us in both mobilisation and field ministries.    

OUR VISION

ECM’s vision is to see the peoples of Europe transformed in the name of Jesus Christ.

This is our dream and aspiration and it motivates everything we do.

OUR MISSION

ECM's mission is to EQUIP, CONNECT and MULTIPLY followers of Jesus through discipleship and church planting across Europe.

We are committed to our mission until the whole of Europe is transformed.

Our Statement of Faith

The European Christian Mission is committed to the truths of historic, biblical and evangelical Christianity including the following:

GodThere is one God, who exists eternally in three distinct but equal persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He is unchanging in His character and attributes. As creator and Lord of the universe He governs all things according to His sovereign will for His own glory.

The Bible. The Bible, comprising the Old and New Testaments, is the Word of God. It was inspired by the Holy Spirit through human authors and is an entirely true revelation of God’s will and purposes. The Bible is our final and infallible authority in every matter of belief and conduct.

The Human Race. God created all men and women in His image to love and worship Him; consequently we have inherent and equal dignity and worth. As a result of the disobedience of our first parents, every aspect of human nature has been corrupted. We have become alienated from God as guilty sinners, incapable of saving ourselves. We are under God’s just condemnation and need to be forgiven and reconciled to God to know, enjoy and worship Him.

Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He is the eternal Son of God who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and given birth by the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life in obedience to His Father, was crucified as the only substitutionary sacrifice for our sins to redeem us and reconcile us to God through His shed blood. He was raised bodily from death and ascended to heaven where He is now exalted as Lord over all.

Salvation. God in His love and mercy reconciles sinners to Himself through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. As sinners repent and turn to God from their sin they receive God’s forgiveness, are adopted into His family and given eternal life. Salvation, by God’s grace alone, is received through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven to glorify Christ and to apply His work of salvation. He convicts sinners, imparts spiritual life and gives a true understanding of the Scriptures. He indwells all believers, brings assurance of salvation and produces increasing likeness to Christ. He builds up the church and empowers its members for worship, service and worldwide proclamation of the Gospel in obedience to the Great Commission.

The Church. The one universal church, the body of Christ, of which each local church is a visible expression, consists of all true believers born again by the Holy Spirit. As a fellowship of believers, the church is called to worship God, grow in grace and bear witness to Christ and His kingdom throughout the world. This calling is opposed by Satan, the enemy of God, who still works to frustrate God’s purpose. Through His death on the cross, Jesus Christ has deprived Satan of his power, a victory in which all believers through faith can share.

The Future. The Lord Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly, to raise the dead and bring to completion His work of salvation and judgement. Believers will be welcomed into the presence of God forever, while unbelievers, together with a finally defeated Satan, will suffer eternal punishment in separation from God.

Our vision and mission

ECM’s vision is to see the peoples of Europe transformed in the name of Jesus Christ. This is our dream and aspiration and it motivates everything we do.

Why does ECM exist?  Our mission, or reason for being, is to equip, connect, and multiply followers of Jesus through church planting and discipleship across Europe. This is what ECM is about: to facilitate church planting in Europe.  But our identity as a mission is principally expressed through our shared values.  Other missions may share the same vision, even the same purpose, but the following shared values and distinctives establish the unique culture of ECM.

Our values

These are the core values that members commit themselves to when they join the mission.  Our teams are guided by these values in the way they plant churches. At every level across the mission we commit ourselves to practising these values in everything we do.

We value a life oriented to God, where courageous faith, prayer and the Bible are the basis of all we do as a mission.
We are committed to integrity and mutual respect in our relationships, that we might be known for loving and caring for each other as we work towards our common vision.
We believe in participating actively and creatively in God’s mission as we reach out to the peoples of Europe through the establishment of new communities of Jesus followers.
We are committed to working and learning together, as teams, fields and national sections, and through partnerships with others, in pursuit of our common purpose

These four values - a life oriented to God, integrity and mutual respect in our relationships, mission to the peoples of Europe through church planting, and collaboration are the core values of ECM.  They are expressed in simple, modern language as UP, IN, OUT, TOGETHER, but they rest on ancient foundations, namely the four marks of the church as expressed in the Nicene Creed.

These have been the core values of ECM since its inception in 1904 under the leadership of Ganz Raud: prayer, loving working relationships, church planting in Europe and partnership with others.  Anchored in the past, but expressed in fresh language for a new generation of missionaries, they have the potential to guide our behaviour into the future.

Our History

ECM has been involved in spreading the gospel in Europe for more than a hundred years. What began with one man's call has now become a mission involving hundreds of people working throughout Europe.

Ganz Raud was the youngest of  five brothers. He became a Christian at the age of ten and learnt to take his stand for Christ. While still a young man, Ganz Raud was called by God during an all night prayer meeting (in what is now Estonia) to reach Europe once more with the Gospel. He began by travelling to Britain where he spoke everywhere about the need in the continent of Europe.

The 1905 Russian Revolution and the First World War forced Raud to leave for the United States. There he slowly built up a network of people who shared his vision and the first office was opened in New York in 1920. Offices in Toronto and London were also established in the years that followed.

By 1923 there were 55 missionaries working for ECM in Europe. In 1927 that number had grown to 81 with 250 volunteers. After the Second World War an ECM office was opened in Paris. Raud died in 1953, but the organisation still continued to grow after his death.

Over the years there have been various partnerships and mergers with other agencies working in Europe, the most recent being the US Mobilisation Team merging with New Hope International in 2016.

Today, 229 ECM workers from more than 30 nationalities share the love of Christ in 25 countries across the continent - bringing hope and transformed lives to the peoples and communities of Europe.

Trustees' Annual Report

A provisional copy of the Trustees' Annual Report can be provided. If you are interested, please contact David James at: hr@ecmi.org
The report still needs approval from the trustees and then to be submitted to the Charity Commissioners in the UK and therefore cannot be shared publicly yet.